DC

There's no excuse for failure???
Idk, haven't really thought about this question before. 

Fire away

We have a general chat section including a forum games section that's there for a reason, the problem was (and I do say was as this problem has come under control in recent months on VGR) is that none of the culprits used the thread the way they were supposed to.

Hello there
I am new. I have been a video gamer since the SNES days and have been hooked ever since. I like SRPGs, TRPGs, ARPGs, and so many other genres.

Welcome to VGR, happy to have you here.

Do I what? Sorry.

Your confusion is completely understandable. And thank you for not holding your tongue, as many do. What we're looking for is members wanting to add to the forum, not their personal numbers. What many don't realize is that posting numbers don't relate to popularity. Members who have posted for years now have gotten a feel for this place, and know how things work. Thus their posts are for the most part on topic and educating. Sure there are places to post goofy and light hearted fun, and that's always welcome in the correct sub-forum. If you look at the leader boards, you will see many people leading in different categories. But just because they are leading in the category doesn't mean that every post they have made was worth making. So post as much as you want. We don't mean machine gun posting. But post when and where you feel you can add to the discussion. If you have any questions you can always PM me, or @Shagger and @DC if you prefer. Part of our job is helping members when they need it.

You can post news relevant to Debate, Religion, and Politics within that sub forum. Otherwise, all news would be categorized under General Chat as you did with the Queen is dead thread. Just use your best judgment.

omg it was those inflatable monster balls that could wipe out 6 people at once.
 

Finally finished Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition again with the Audemus' Happy Ending Mod installed. It was refreshing to see the game with a different ending this time, albeit a modded, fan-made happy ending. This was the first time I played the game with one of these happy ending mods, so it was pretty cool. I might install other similar mods in my next replay to spice things up and make the experience feel even more different.
But now that I finally finished the trilogy once again, it feels kinda tedious to go back to my usual routine of SMT games, especially when Devil Survivor: Overclocked reminds me how much I suck at the game. I think I'm probably gonna give up on the game soon, if not already. I'm stuck at the battle against the Shomonkai Founder and Belberith, and it really sucks how I can't just grind my level up to get better at beating it because the first playthrough has an xp-lock to keep you from being overpowered. I'm literally forced to fight a challenging boss battle with one hand tied behind my back. And sure, maybe that just means I need to "git gud," but I suck at strategy games, so there's nothing I could do about my lack of talent.
I'm using vinheim's walkthrough on GameFAQ, and it still didn't help. These are the stats of my team. Maybe someone else could help me figure out what I'm doing wrong:
Team 1:
Protagonist: Level 64
Laksmi: Level 55
Astaroth: Level 57
Team 2:
Atsuro: Level 60
Laksmi: Level 52
Orochi: Level 61
Team 3:
Yuzu: Level 62
Norn: Level 58
Hecate: Level 52
Team 4:
Mari: Level 61
Laksmi: Level 54
Cerberus: Level 55
I've leveled up my protagonist to 64 already and I gave my team almost the same demons the walkthrough instructed (except Behemoth, which the walkthrough miswritten as level 63 when it's actually level 70 or something, meaning I have to grind my protag to even get it, which is impossible very hard to do during the first playthrough). Maybe I should just get different demons from the ones stated in the walkthrough. Now that my protagonist is level 64, there are actually demons that are higher leveled than the ones suggested in the walkthrough, but I'm not sure if "higher level" equates to "better demons" in the context of SMT, because they might not have skills that are as efficient. But I guess I have nothing to lose by trying that out.
I guess I could also try using the "Ban Element" auto-skills instead of the auto-skills suggested in the walkthrough. One thing that frustrates me is how my teams kept dying because they got one-shot by the enemies before I even got the chance to fight back (and forced to use Samarecarm/Recarm over and over again until my teams ran out of MP), so protecting my demons from attacks they're weak against might help. Another thing that frustrates me is how my MP ran out by the time I finally managed to beat the lackeys and lifted the required platform that I need to use to reach Belberith. It sucks how there's no MP-restoration items in this game.
And of course, the worst part of all this is the skill-cracking part. Things would probably be a lot easier if I just gang up on a single demon at the same time, but that would mean missing out on cracking useful auto-skills because you need to have specific team members delivering the killing blow to get those skills. So I might just give up on cracking those stupid skills altogether if I ever feel like giving this battle another shot.
The more I'm writing about the game though, the more I hate it and how annoying it is. Makes me feel like giving up on all the other SMT games I haven't played too, including SMT IV:A, Soul Hackers 2, and Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker, because this experience just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Leaving the game and coming back to play it after I've finished the whole Mass Effect trilogy clearly didn't help. I kinda wish there are cheats available for the game so I could get this game over with, because it's either forcing myself to lose over and over again or just abandoning the game altogether and wasting all the money I spent buying these 3DS cartridges on Amazon. I'm just so tired. Suddenly abandoning SMT games after I've been playing them for so long feels kinda weird though, especially when I haven't been able to finish them. I haven't even started New Game+ yet for the ones I did finish.
I don't know. Maybe it's a good thing. I placed a lot of good TV shows I was binging on pause just to play SMT games, so this might be a good opportunity to get back to them. Maybe it's a sign from a higher power. lol Maybe I'm just not meant to finish this game, or those other SMT games I haven't touched (which might be a good thing, considering SMT IV:A's reputation).

The way you have conducted yourself so far is fine, so if you just keep doing what you do and it will be OK. What we were discussing here is people firing in a mass a low effort, pointless posts just to add to their post tallies.
 
There was a point where a lot of people were pretty much hijacking threads to use as there own personal text chain instead of engaging in the structured discussion that's meant to happen on a forum. It was hurting the forum because people were getting there post buried by people post one sentence replies from others who didn't care about staying on topic, the legibility of their posts, the purpose or what their posts added. the only thing that mattered was that it was a post, something to add to the tally.
 
If you browse the forum, find a topic of interest, give it a read then if you have something to add, an opinion to express or a question to ask in relation to that topic, post a reply. If there is is topic you want to talk about not being discussed, start a new thread about it in the appropriate sub-forum. That is  it these people were doing, they were just moving down the threads one by one to make a pointless post with thought or purpose put into it then onto the next one.

I can understand your confusion, you weren't here when these problems were really profound so it might seem like moderators are being a little harsh and controlling.  As someone who was here when it was it worst I promise you their not and it's nothing personal.  The General Gaming and Music sections in particular were a joke, people would just bump the same topics with generic short posts that barely relate to the topic and post the same music tracks and videos over multiple threads over and over.  We literally got the same users making about 30 posts within spans of about 10 minutes multiple times a day.  It made trying to find the most recent legitimate content an absolute nightmare, burying good threads long before their time.

What is the best revenge scene in cinematic history?

It is also worth noting that post framers and those with questionable posting habits (kingpotato, Heatman, Justin11) are all not allowed to participate in Bid for Rewards. There is truly only one user who has significantly more Points than anyone else and that is @The Blackangel. All of her posts have been meaningful and she has been here for years, in fact of our longest established members.
Correct. Members do not receive Points for received post reactions.
Signature rights, different colored username, increased PM storeage, access to a Premium members only sub-forum.

Not eligible as stated in OP.

Sneak Energy drink, without sugar, is the best energy drink out there. I still prefer the powdered form as I can be able to buy more of it and store. It can sustain you for more than 40 minutes when you are playing one of your favorite games or doing an activity that requires more energy. I truly recommend it.

Not eligible as stated in OP.

@Yaramaki Do you think you might try Sneak while working to see if it helps you have energy and focus for work?
@Withywarlock Are you sure it’s the recipe that makes it seem powdery, not the way you mixed it?
@Heatman Not my cat. She sounds like a boulder crashing down whenever she jumps off of anything lol

This is the official Member of the Month - September 2022 Nominations Thread. The winner will receive 500 VGR Forum Points which can be used in Bid for Rewards.
Member of the Month is generally awarded to the individual who had the biggest impact on the VGR Forum. This is generally in the form of contributing the most amount of posts in terms of quantity and/or quality, but can extend to referrals/promotion and other efforts to benefit the community.
You only nominate 1 member and you cannot nominate yourself. @Empire Of Sight won August MOTM and thus is not eligible for this month.
Nominations end September 30 at 10pm EST then a new thread will be created for voting. Please keep all thread replies strictly to nominations - no anecdotal discussions/comments.

Alright so me and @Withywarlock have begun a long discussion on this and I feel like this topic should be it's own thread. Don't be afraid to post your opinion.
 
As for starting this topic, I feel like the first problem is the rewards. I fully apricate DC's effort on rewards, however I think the lack of a proper shop is hurting the site. I'd love to buy more than just video games, and as Warlock suggested, things like customization would be a great way to reward members without building up competition. A shop would be a great first step in reworking the points system and could make VGR a better place for all.

I completely understand where you're coming from, but I'm the sort of person who wants proof it builds the forum (which I don't think even DC can provide because how does one measure such a thing?) and I also don't think people need to be rewarded for posting. Posting should be its own reward.
Don't get me wrong, I love internet points. I frequented r/fatlogic as the Reddit karma was intoxicating, but it wasn't a requirement for my continued contribution. But if Reddit were to disappear I'd happily find another forum helping people debunk fat activist rhetoric and myths about obesity. I initially joined this forum not for points, but to lend my experience as a recently former games journalist and an interest in the industry. It has been rather rewarding engaging in discussion and trying to probe beyond the surface of the topics presented.
I 100% agree. If the system is to remain it must be reworked. As of right now the only immediate answer I can think of, until we each get more ideas to bounce off one another, is to totally reset points. Have some silly prizes to spend them on, maybe some sort of "Veteran Member" or "Goldmember" badge for underneath your profile picture before they disappear, and we can start again.

As you know, America is having some VERY important midterm elections this year, so remember to register to vote!
And if you already are, get everyone you know to register to vote!
https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote

I think this only further increases the wealth gap we've both noticed, and also encourages bad forum etiqutte. I've talked at length about the low-effort posts on this forum and the clear reasoning behind why it happens.
I still stand by the removal of points and prizes entirely, but until that time comes I'd rather we have something that encourages good conduct. Your idea of referrals is a good one (with the caveat that the points are only rewarded after the referred person has made a significant enough contribution to the forum). Perhaps re-limiting the amount of reacts given per day and rewarding those whose content is positively reacted toward?
Might be an idea for prizes where only those below a certain figure can spend points, or things that cost less. I like Steam's way of doing its Points shop: you can buy profile picture borders, mini-profile backgrounds which are animated, and so on. Could be a nice idea to be able to buy cheap forum themes: a Halloween theme, a Christmas theme, showing avatars with jack-o'-lantern borders or Santa hats, with the VGR logo at the top caked in snow and fairy lights.
Seeing as there's rarely any prizes I want I tend to amass a ton of points, so more customisation for the forum would be grand.